No one could say the Heathman Hotel in Portland is run by people who are blind to opportunity.

The hotel, featured in the popular erotic novel “50 Shades of Grey,” is now offering special packages for fans of the book. The so-called “mommy porn” trilogy is based primarily in Seattle, but certain scenes are set at the Heathman in Portland.

For the record: “50 Shades of Grey” is the story of a sadistic billionaire who flies around the Northwest in a helicopter, wooing submissive young women and hardly ever working at his international corporation. (At least, that’s what I assume after skimming the first few chapters.)

The Burnside Brewing Company in Portland is delaying the release of a new beer after an outpouring of criticism from Hindus. The beer was named “Kali-ma,” and its label featured the four-armed goddess Kali standing among three severed heads

Offensive? Some certainly thought so.

“Such trivialisation of Goddess Kali is disturbing to Hindus (the) world over,” Hindu leader Rajan Zed told the Hindustan Times. “Goddess Kali is highly revered in Hinduism and is not to be used in selling beer for mercantile greed.”

Oops. The thing is, Burnside Brewing owners say they weren’t trying to offend anyone. They got the idea from the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” where Jones is forced to drink a potion that puts him into a trance potion called “the black sleep of Kali Ma.”

Forbes columnist Adam Hartung has had it with “CEO mistakes.” First , Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson lays claim to degrees he didn’t earn, and then Chase CEO Jamie Dimon admits his company lost $2 billion. Hartung is putting his food down in disgust, but not before he lifts it up to stomp on a few other CEOs he thinks are killing their companies.
[Read More]

Facebook is known for having super-artsy offices with commissioned murals, and the company’s Seattle headquarters is no different. Seattle artist Jim Woodring recently posted this video to YouTube, showing off his newly painted mural at the local Facebook offices. He speaks highly of the Facebook office culture, but also admits he doesn’t “get out much.” […]
[Read More]

Amazon thinks the way to a Kindle owner’s heart might be through the most popular boy wizard in the history of young-adult literature.

Starting June 19, Amazon will let Kindle owners”borrow” the seven-volume Harry Potter series for free. The books will be available through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which also has almost 150,000 other titles available on a temporary basis.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos indicated the popular new add is an attempt to make nice with Kindle owners in the highly competitive e-book market.

Ever slipped up and ordered a “grande” anything at an indie coffee shop? Sometimes your barista will just go with it. Sometimes they’ll give you a dirty look. And sometimes they’ll point out that the Starbucks is just down the street.

Or, have you ever ordered a “16-ounce” something at Starbucks? You’ll be politely corrected — sometimes loudly — when your cashier delivers your order to the bar.

More evidence that Starbucks successfully changed the way we think and talk about coffee.

Books, smooks. Amazon has its sights set on high-end fashion, a New York Times story told us Monday.

But instead of the cut-price philosophy Amazon applies to its book-seller arm, the company is making nice with designers by keeping price points high. Industry experts point out that Amazon’s increased focus on selling clothing might make manufacturers wary, since the online retailer tends to buy wholesale and sell low.

But so far, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that won’t do for high-end fashion.

The 17-pound bags of pasta are on aisle nine. The wedding dresses are near the door. And the home mortgages? Why, that’s right this way.

Costco is rolling out a full-service mortgage lending program in partnership with First Choice Bank and a handful of other lenders. And you know what that means: The Issaquah-based bulk retailer really does sell just about everything now.

Fortune has a report that might make you think twice about browsing Amazon unless the site has your undivided attention.

The Seattle-based retail website is jam packed full of knock-off books — “poorly produced pamphlets” theoretically designed to dupe buyers who aren’t paying close attention to what they’re clicking. (That quote is from a reviewer of a copycat book about Steve Jobs. The title has since been removed from the site.)

We’ve just learned the guys at Seattle’s J&D Foods — they’re the ones behind Bacon Salt and Baconnaise, in case you forgot — are working with a production company to pitch a reality TV show full of bacon-flavored stunts.

Courtney Stodden would be jealous. So would the bikini-clad women at Baristas Coffee Company.